Inquiry into Students' Perceptions of Civil and Building Construction Curricula in South African TVET Colleges

Abstract

The civil and building construction programme was introduced in 2007 in South Africa as a new Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) qualification. This TVET qualification was intended to ensure an adequate supply of skills in priority areas such as carpentry, roof-work, plumbing, and bricklaying. However, the TVET sector in South Africa has not fulfilled the mandate of providing adequate skills for trades of carpentry and roof-work, plumbing and bricklaying. The purpose of this study was to enquire into students' perceptions of civil and building construction curricula in South African TVET colleges. This study was conducted using a mixed-method research approach and case study design comprised of two TVET colleges. Purposive and convenience sampling was used to identify one hundred and thirty students to participate in the study. The data collection instrument used for this study was a questionnaire directed to civil and building construction students. The study discovered that civil and building construction curricula content need urgent evaluation to keep up with the demand in the industry. The curriculum design of civil and building construction must be revised in line with the demand in the industry. It is discovered that civil and building construction curricula content contains a lot of theory content. This study recommends that civil and building construction curricula content be revised and updated in line with industry demand. The revision process needs to involve all the stakeholders such as the industry, TVET teachers and curriculum planners.